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Paynor, Balam
Vital Stats Gender: Male Race: Half-Fiend Class: Shaman Alignment: Neutral Evil Element: Darkness Secondary Element: Water Age: Indeterminate HT: 6’ 7” WT: 327 Appearance ' Balam Paymon stands six feet and seven inches tall. He is a monster of a man with his powerful build. His human flesh is pale, often taking on the grayish hue associated with a corpse. His eyes seem almost normal, save for the vertical pupils surrounded by irises as red as flame. Small horns of crimson curve out from his forehead, one on either side; each has reached a full two inches in length and seems to point to the heavens. Short black hair of a coarse nature akin to steel wool forms tight curls that reach to Balam’s broad shoulders. His ears are like those of a human, but slightly pointed. His medium-high cheekbones and long, skinny nose compliment his squarish, unclefted jaw perfectly. His face is always clean-shaven save for short, squared-off sideburns as black and curly as the hair atop his demonic head. Balam’s black boots are thick and heavy. His close-fitting pants are a perfect match for the boots, as is the loose (but not immensely so) black shirt of thick cotton that Balam wears; the tunic is sleeveless and bears a neck similar to that of a turtleneck. A thick black belt of leather is fastened around his waist with a large silver buckle in the detailed shape of a big-horned sheep; to the left of that buckle, near the hip, there hangs a wicked-looking battle axe of shining steel. Wrapped around Balam’s upper left arm is a wide band of pure silver that resembles a dire wolf latching onto its own tail with its powerful jaws. '''History ' For nearly twenty-five hundred years, the half-fiend Balam Paymon existed as the heir to his father’s throne. Who is his father? Abaddon is the name he has always given; he is the King of one of the larger and more powerful territories in the Abyss. But Balam is the older of two sons; after two hundred years, his younger brother – a full-blooded fiend, the son of Abaddon’s wife – demanded a battle against his brother. He found it difficult to believe that a half-fiend born out of wedlock – born to a pit fiend and a human slave that was later sold to the Osyluth king of another territory – could become the heir to their father’s throne. Balam was far too powerful for his younger brother and the price – his brother’s eternal soul – thus became Balam’s plaything. Moloch’s body was preserved by Balam only because it was still useful. Bound to a small ruby that is always on Balam’s person, his soul was allowed to inhabit the body so long as it was not destroyed. If it remained in any way intact, after all, the body could be healed and reused. If destroyed, the soul would be transported into the ruby to which it was bound. Only a score of years younger than Balam, Moloch had spent the first century of his life growing gradually bitter; after the battle, the weakling alchemist was forced to teach Balam everything he knew. Being something of a prodigy in the field, he was quite knowledgeable and thus the perfect teacher. In addition, Moloch has spent the last two-and-a-half centuries acting as a spy; a gopher; a messenger; and other such professions. After four hundred years of service to his brother, Moloch’s little sister was born – also a full-blooded fiend by his father’s wife. Shalbiri was a beautiful, confident fiend that aggressively aided in the conquest of three key territories in the Abyss. In so doing, she enabled Abaddon to claim over a dozen others that were (unfortunately for them) placed between his own territory and the strategically placed territories he had gained through Shalbiri. After the battle, however, Balam decided he would help his sister celebrate – whether she wanted his “help” or not. He brutally raped her until she could hardly move, let along stand or speak; when she threatened to warn their father, he beat her until her impressive innate healing abilities became useless. She died within minutes of the final blow. Centuries later, when a powerful rival of Abaddon demanded his son as payment for a truce, Abaddon refused. As a result, the demon attacked Balam; his powerful magic resulted in a curse that temporarily bound him to the Shadow Plane. Though he existed in the Abyss, any major catastrophe or shift in the Shadow Plane's energy alignment would significantly affect Balam. Thus, when Balefire was drawn from the Shadow Plane into the Prime Material plane of existence, Balam and Moloch - who in turn was bound to his brother - were drawn with it. Though he had won the battle, driving the demon out of his father's territory, the transport painfully claimed most of Balam’s powers and he was forced to rebuild his repertoire from the magical energies of Imythess. On the plus side, the curse was broken when Balefire came to Imythess; also on the plus side, his power over his brother’s soul remained completely intact. Since that time, he has made a point of using his brother to get him acquainted with some very powerful people – people who have everything to lose by being exposed to the public at large. Fortunately for them, Balam has no interest in losing the profitability he has gained by working with them. '''Flaws As shown in his brief history, Balam is ambitious and cruel. He has always been impious and overzealous, but his sojourn into Imythess also made him paranoid and slightly megalomaniacal. Growing up, he was taught never to retreat from any battle; he has taken that to heart since the first moment it was mentioned to him by his father. The bad reputation he has gained in Imythess stems from his hatred of anything feline in nature and his growing hatred of the Surface Elves, whom – unlike the Drow – seem to be exactly the opposite of everything that makes Balam and his kind what they are. While not exactly feared throughout the world, his physical prowess in battle as well as his arcane powers has made him a formidable opponent; however, it is his murderous actions that have led him to become a target. Even without knowing his identity, however, most people seem to dislike him immediately. Notes Both the first and last name of this character are actual names of demons found in classical mythology. The same is true for every other name mentioned here, though Balam's sister was actually given a masculine name due to the unavailability of female demon names. For a long list of demon names - the same list used as the source for this character and his related NPCs (non-playable characters) - go to http://www.angelsghosts.com/underworld_demons.html.